Top 2 Worst written character currently in the games?

[cakito123]

Honestly I know this series's writing isn't the best, but there are some characters who tends to have a larger focus and still deliver nothing, different from Sora and Riku's relationship and exposition. I have my own list of characters who I think is the worst written one, or least interesting to follow for me. I want us to share some thoughts about those. Share here why a character makes you uninterested on his/her story and where/why do you think the story went wrong with them.

(also, if we could steer away from Kairi's obvious first place, that'd be good, except if you wanna bring some point out of her)

1 - Ventus
Yes, this is the worst written character from the franchise for me. He has no agency on anything, ever. KH3's ventus was the worst I've seen from him. Ventus tends to suffer on other's behalf ALL THE TIME, or suffer from other characters trying to do something with him. Yet, he responds to them like "oh ok". Like Xehanort or Darkness itself. He also has a happy go lucky personality that just don't sit well with me, unike Sora's. In BBS's animations and attacks he seems to have some sassyness and confident personality but I don't see that in him on any cutscenes or interactions. It is really uninteresting to follow Ventus's arc on this franchise - his BBS's story stinks because he is oblivious or childish about everything and in the end he just needs to get saved from Aqua and fucking dies. And unfortunately with Union X, I think he is becoming more and more important to the overall story - that's the character who I see with more potencial of protagonism from now on the future side games that won't feature Riku. However, his way of dealing with his problems until now is just the worst thing ever to watch. VENTUS IS USELESS AND DUMB THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING.

2 - Axel / Lea
How do I even start on this one? His KH3 iteration was probably the worst appearence in the franchise. In Days and CoM he was that villain/anti hero and he was written SO WELL, THAT I couldn't BELIEVE his KH3's appearences could reach that low. He is just uninteresting now. Axel was NOT a character who was liked because of his personality alone, his story with Roxas/Xion and the organization what what really made him fun in the first place, and his personality was the cherry on the top of the cake. In KH3 he is just an fourth wall breaker for public ass licking. It is uninteresting to follow him, even with his Subject X subplot. I don't care anymore about him.

 

[Elysium]

1. Kairi
2. Lea

It's kind of funny that their problems are the reverse of one another. Kairi was never used for anything other than ending scene content whereas Axel/Lea was used more than he should have been to the point he's become flanderized. The only other one that comes to mind is Namine, simply for being ignored so severely it's practically a running gag at this point.

 

[kirabook]

Xehanort, for one. Just like with the lore of these games, his supposedly well thought out perfect plan seemed to change on a whim. I wasn't satisfied by his goals or his death by the end of KH3. I wish he, as the main villain, had been written more consistently. Even worse, even though he's dead, Nomura clearly isn't finished with his story and may go full redemption arc or something after everything he's done. Just sucks. I don't hate the character, but he no longer is an intimidating figure to me, if that makes sense.

Um, for a second.... badly written.... badly written.............. well. I guess the obvious choice is Kairi. Kinda sucks too because there were SO many opportunities for Nomura and team to do better with her. It continues to baffle me how they keep missing the mark? I'm not even like a HUGE fan or anything you know, but I think anyone who plays these games would've preferred she had better writing. For every moment they build up your expectations for Kairi to do something, she gets pushed aside for someone else... FOR NO REASON! Like, I don't think any other character has been usurped like she has. It's as if they refuse to write her as anything but a damsel, like they're stuck on the princess shtick and can't get with the times. I dunno.

 

[kaseykockroach]

We can only pick two? :,(

 

[cakito123]

We can only pick two? :,(

I made a limit of 2 characters because I want to know why those two, not only a list full of names, you know?
I thought two was a good number to each person to explain their reasons on why a character got uninteresting to them. But you can choose more, just explain it why for each of them, tho.

 

[Vulpes XIII]

For me if I find a character boring or uninteresting it usually ends up meaning I don’t like there story, it can be the best written story ever but if the characters boring I’m not interested.

Terra - I find this character really boring and I know his story is really important and his story sets of a major chain of events that take place throughout the series and I know that even though he struggles with the darkness he is still willing to fight for his friends even when he is possessed or when the only thing left of him is the lingering will. Although I can’t find myself caring about his friendships if I don’t care about the character in the first place plus it does not help that I don’t really care about the BBS Trio and honestly I find myself caring more about Ventus friendship with the Union Leaders than I do Aqua and Terra.

Lea - Axel was such a great character in KH2/Chain of memories and his story was really interesting. However Lea is not interesting at all he started going slightly downhill in DDD but by the time KH3 came he was just a joke. The only thing that kept me interested in him in KH3 is that if he we kept following his story we would eventually get Roxas and Xion back.

 

[Foxycian]

1. Namine
2. Xion

They are not the worst characters, but among the main characters these two have the least impact on me, but I still love them

Also...

Ventus's arc on this franchise - his BBS's story stinks because he is oblivious or childish about everything and in the end he just needs to get saved from Aqua and fucking dies. And unfortunately with Union X, I think he is becoming more and more important to the overall story - that's the character who I see with more potencial of protagonism from now on the future side games that won't feature Riku. However, his way of dealing with his problems until now is just the worst thing ever to watch. VENTUS IS USELESS AND DUMB THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING.

I mean technically Ventus saved her more then she saved him lmao

Ventus = 3 Times
1. stopped Vanitas form killing her
2. Did half 50% of the work in the X-blade fight
3. Saved her again from Vanitas in kh3

Aqua = 2 times
1. She and Mickey did the other 50% on X-blade fight
2. She hid him so Xehanort won’t find him

also this character canonically been asleep for a decade, like literally 10 years, I honestly don’t know why you upset that he is given a new role? Welp anyway Im looking forward to see how the story will go from now on.

 

[MATGSY]

Kairi and Maleficent are what popped in my mind. Kairi's issues are well covered by this point so I'll just focus on Maleficent. She basically should've stayed dead in KH1, at least it was a character appropriate conclusion for her.

KH2 brought her back from the dead (ignoring UX retcons) without having any actual purpose for her being there other than just because. Pete was already doing the job of being a secondary threat commanding the heartless without her. Malie's only real contribution was reviving Oogie which could've happened some other way judging by Ursula (or that one Capcom game Oogie's Revenge).

The games in between 2 & 3 started hinting that she does have some sort of future gameplan involving the BoP. chi's original ending even closed out on her as if things were finally in motion.

And then she proceeded to do even less in KH3 than in 2. -_-

With the newest UX update, the BoP's usefulness has deminished as we learned it ain't as all seeing as she hopes. But apparently she has a NEW purpose now, one that's not her own plan but forced upon her by OCs. At least let her do something of her own accord.

 

[Deleted member 246005]

It's Sora and Xehanort for me. I hate the Xehanort saga and those two are why.

Sora was fine in 1 but went downhill from 2, hitting rock bottom in DDD. Best way to describe him as the worst parts of Naruto and Ichigo.

Nomura tried so hard to make Xehanort the ultimate big bad. I wanna tell Xehanort would've been more bearable as a one off villian.

Ironically these two would work better separately.

Sora feels more at home in the Disney worlds so put him in a low stakes episodic franchise like Sonic the hedgehog.

Xehanort worked in BBS so just keep TAV as the protagonists. Just retire Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Let them end on a high note.

The runner up is Xion because she felt like a bad fanfic oc. Granted Days didn't help much because a Roxas-centered Days felt unneccesary. So Xion was screwed from the start.

The only part of Days that worked is the Lea/Isa reveal/retcon. So just give them a prequel where they go from friends to villians. They call them a negative change arc. Make it a prequel to kH1 and you are golden.

Add Xion or Larxene and you have a dark parallel to SRK.

Nomura didn't learn how to write a Trio till BBS. So that's where Kairi and Xion fell flat.

 

[RonaldPoe]

I love KH and its characters. That being said, there's 2that seem obvious to me. I've discussed both of them in a recent thread though.

1. Namine. We're repeatedly told how kind hearted she is but that's not really conveyed well at all. Her actions towards Sora and Riku Replica in COM (messing with their memories until they're little more than damaged puppets) are horrific but everyone forgives her easily (espeically in universe but also out). It's like a murderer or rapist being forgiven because they apologize when caught. It's funny when Maleficent (a character who prides herself on being evil) has done at least as many good deeds as Namine. Another problem is that she's easily the biggest crybaby in Kingdom Hearts history. I think the only reason she gets a pass is because she's cute ...

2. Lea. I think everyone's said enough on him. He's Diet Axel. He worked great as an antihero but not as a straight hero.

For those wondering Maleficent's good deeds were helping Sora twice in KH2, actively opposing the main villains throughout the series (though she probably has ulterior motives), and arguably rescuing Pete (I feel he was wrongfully imprisoned).

 

[MATGSY]

For those wondering Maleficent's good deeds were helping Sora twice in KH2, actively opposing the main villains throughout the series (though she probably has ulterior motives), and arguably rescuing Pete (I feel he was wrongfully imprisoned).

Well, Pete did try to take over the kingdom in DDD. I feel Pete got the Disney equivalent of Al Capone getting busted for tax evasion.

 

[RonaldPoe]

In BBS, Minnie sent him to the Dark Realm just for being a sore loser and acting like a jerk prior (something that is wildly out of character for her and pretty cruel). Yes Pete later committed crimes like being Maleficent's second in command, assisting a few Disney villains, stealing, messing with time travel (in the Timeless River), general rudeness and trying to take over Disney Castle twice. However all of that happened after he was banished. The Dark Realm is shown to be nightmarish and have a very corrupting influence (Just ask Aqua). It's funny that he was punished the one time, he didn't deserve it. Freeing someone who was imprisoned for something so light could be considered a good deed.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

When it comes to Pete one has to remember that the time when Minnie busts him in BBS happens only after a whole row of offenses already committed beforehand which weren't shown to the audience or TAV for that matter. Yet Donald's nephews, Horace, Chip and Dale pretty much tell TAV independently from each other that Pete is often up to no good.
The events of the country of musketeers were shown "only" in DDD but they most likely happened way before BBS in the actual timeline since every world there was just a repeating dream of the sleeping world itself and those are no pushovers in terms of Pete's villainy.
If I recall correctly Minnie even outright says she refrained from actually administering a punishment for a long time in order to give Pete a chance to reform and do better, so it wasn't like she just decided on a whim to dish out a maximum sentence. Pete's behavior on the festival was just the drop that let the barrel finally spill over.

The KH series itself also has a strange habit of portraying Pete as much more of a bumbling fool and incompetent than he actually is in his regular appearances in other Disney media, especially in many of the comics where he is a competent arch enemy of Mickey second only to the Phantom Blot in terms of danger level.

 

[okhi12]

At this point everyone but Sora and Riku have had several instances of bad writing. I shouldn't even exclude them, because in DDD Sora was stupid and in KH3 Riku was... it's not what he was but what he wasn't.
I should exclude Aqua as well just for the fact that she is the only woman in the series who had development and consistent personality (to some extent) unlike Kairi who had 3 different personalities in the 3 main games.

It's not like I hate the characters or anything, but it's been some time since I assumed that making no sense is part of their personalities. Or Nomura's.

 

[kirabook]

Maybe Nomura and team is having issues with writing Pete because depending on the movie or show, Pete is either a straight out villain or just the bumbling jerkwad that's kind of a friend/rival. So even when he's doing villainous stuff, it all seems pointless and hardly dangerous compared to the stuff KH1 villains were doing.

Even between Pete and Hook who is also a bumbling villain, Pete seems less villainous than him.

 

[disney233]

Ok, but you gotta give Pete credit for almost putting an end to a demi-god and basically stealing the show in Re:Coded. In all honesty, Re:Coded was the best usage of his villainy. Almost KILLING Donald and Goofy, and fucking turning Data Riku into a literal puppet.

 

[Snowflake:3]

Kairi. It’s not that she’s a boring character, it’s just I bore myself having high expectations every time we see her, Maybe her training with aqua will come to fruition? Kairi needs all the development she can get.

Axel. I was actually close to saying Riku due to his dry performance in kh3 but I believe Axel deserves the spot here, Axel or Lea? He really was cool character but alas he was reduced to the guy cracking the jokes.

I would have also said Aqua as my third option but Aqua is the only girl we got among the three trios to get development so I’m gonna cut her some slack and not mention or place her here.

 

[RonaldPoe]

I stand behind Namine and Lea being the worst written characters, Kairi is an obvious third. She's probably the character that Nomura has the most trouble with. Whenever she gets a push/awesome moment (saving Sora from being a hearrtless, getting a keyblade, helping against an Armored Xehanort, getting most the info in Memory of Melody, ect), she quickly gets sent a couple steps back (like her fights in the Keyblade War, spending most of KH2 on the sidelines, was losing to a memory of Master Xehanort, ect). I think she's fine as a character but we shouldn't expect her to fight on par with most of the other heroes.

Recoded may have had its faults but it did make Pete an actual threat. He and Maleficent aren't poorly written but they do spend too much time in the background. Pete has been shown some moments of competence in other media like The Prince and the Pauper (he was the main villain there and an effective one too), Disney's first adaptation of The Christmas Carol (he managed to terrify Scrooge McDuck as the Ghost of Christmas Future) and House of Mouse (he was the owner of a popular night club and Mickey's boss for the whole show).

 

[Somnus cealum]

I say XEHANORT and lea. I do like lea but xe wasn't good. Kairi is ok with me

 

[*TwilightNight*]

I1. Namine. We're repeatedly told how kind hearted she is-

Name an example of a character saying she's kind hearted in the series and have it surpass more than one hand, since it's "repetitive".

Also, she is kind. Nobody needs to be told that to figure that out.

but that's not really conveyed well at all.

Holds no malice, holds no evil, holds no malignant intentions, tries to help the best way that's possible with the circumstances, saves the heroes/characters, overall nice girl, etc. Made a mistake she felt responsible for and spent her remaining life making up for it, as KHII, Coded, and KHIII showed.

Her actions towards Sora and Riku Replica in COM (messing with their memories until they're little more than damaged puppets) are horrific but everyone forgives her easily (espeically in universe but also out). It's like a murderer or rapist being forgiven because they apologize when caught.

You're...lmao, you're legit comparing...wait, cause this is so funny. You're comparing an imprisoned girl since creation with no positive social interactions, let alone friends, who has no means to protect or defend herself and was coerced/forced into messing with the memories of people by bad adults (the Organization) while feeling incredibly awful about it her entire debut game and immediately went to stop it the second she was allowed freedom (by Axel)...to a murder and rapist? Like, are you kidding yourself right now? You must be.

It's funny when Maleficent (a character who prides herself on being evil) has done at least as many good deeds as Namine.

You mean the witch who cursed a baby to die in the future at 16 (and was only reverted to sleep by the good fairies) because she didn't get invited to a party?

Another problem is that she's easily the biggest crybaby in Kingdom Hearts history. I think

The trios and Roxas are bigger crybabies than she is.

This must be a troll post.

I go away for a bit and get met up with nonsense when I return. My goodness. There's opinions and then there are just bad opinions with no basis.

----------------

Anyway...

Kairi.

I think we've gone over Kairi enough.

And...Sora, actually. It's between him and Terra for second. I'll go over that soon enough.